Shyama Zutshi—the first Kashmiri heroine who had joined Bollywood!

By: B Revti

Shyama Zutshi (1910-1953) and Zaira Wasim (born 23 October 2000) have something in common to share. While Shyama Zutshi was the first Kashmiri girl who joined Hindi films in 1934, Zaira Wasim is perhaps the last from the same cultural background/lineage.
 Both Shyama and Zaira have remained quite successful and sought after stars but suddenly moved out from films for nearly identical reasons. Shyama Zutshi is believed to have quit films as her fellow Kashmiri Actor, Chander Mohan Wattal used to tell her always to quit acting as the same was “not meant for Kashmiri girls’’.  As per some of the statements of  Zaira Wasim, Bollywood industry had  “conflicted with her religious identity and beliefs’’.

Shyama Zutshi: An  actor, freedom fighter

 Shyama Zutshi, a Kashmiri pandit, born at Anand Bhawan, Allahabad,  after passing her BA examination, had joined Hindi cinema.  She had acted in films like Shiv Bhakti (1934), Majnu (1935), Kaarwaan- e- Hayaat (1935) and Khooni Jadugar (1939) and had remained a prominent artist on the panel of All India Radio, Delhi. Her father, Ladli Prasad Zutshi was a freedom fighter.   Shyama was admitted to Sacred Heart Convent, Lahore by her mother Lado Rani. Fluent in English, Gujarati, Marathi, Urdu, Kashmiri and Hindi, Shyama Zutshi  was also proficient in horse riding and  singing.

Her major hit was Karwan-E-Hayat (1935) in which she acted with K. L. Saigal, T. R. Rajakumari, Pahari Sanyal, and Rattan Bai.  She became a very successful actor, but with the influence from her elder sister Manmohini, she moved out from films and focused on politics and freedom struggle. Another reason for Shyama Zutshi to quit films was the advice from a fellow Kashmiri actor Chander Mohan Wattal who was a close friend of Zutshi family. Later, Shyama became a Women Congress leader and a frontline freedom fighter influenced by Mahatama  Gandhi‘s non-violent struggle along with her mother and three sisters (Chandra Kumari, Manmohini and Janak) . After some time Lado Rani arranged the marriage of Shyama in a well off Chopra family.

Shyama’s father, Ladli Prasad Zutshi was a prominent lawyer in Lahore and was the nephew of Pandit Motilal Nehru. Lado Rani infused the light of patriotism in her daughters by participating in the freedom movement.

Kashmiri actresses Yashodhara  Kathju and Zaira Wasim

Once Shyama Zutshi was out, another girl namely Yashodhara Kathju (niece of Pandit Nehru) was next in line of Kashmiri Pandit girls to join the Indian Film Industry. Chander Mohan Wattal tried to ensure that Yashodara alsoleaves the films but this girl was tough. She ignored all requests from Chander Mohan. Yashodhara Kathju acted in many films from 1942 to 1960. Chnderlekha (1948) and Talaaq (1958) were her milestone films. She married a Navy officer Suraj Prakash Chopra and lived a very unnoticed quiet life. The other Kashmiri girl of modern times and National Award-winning actor, Zaira Wasim announced her “disassociation” from the field of acting in 2019. Since then, she has often shared posts on social media in support of her religion